 |
Sim City 3000 UK Edition (PC)
by Graham1984
Sim city 3000 was another follow up game for the franchise that consists of starting from absolutely nothing and trying to work your way to building an absolute goliath of a city. When you start you have to consider every single item you do to make your city expand on its own from adequate jobs and housing available,water and electricity ... for all your building and transport for your sims.
The main concept of the game is build three types of building such as housing for your sims, Commercial for shops and jobs and finally the industrial sector that can range from motor industries all the way to rural farming. The zones you build are either in size and density of light,medium or dense and depending on what one you chose and the allocated grid tiles you amend will effect what type of building grows their. Many things effect this game such as do your buildings and sims have water, Is there pollution in the air or from traffic, Is there an ease of public transport such as rail,road and busses ect. When all of these are covered along with the value of the land the buildings will grow and change either slowly or rapidly depending on the game speed.
Each area has a knock on effect to it's neighbouring buildings so you have to have careful thought in placing your buildings as if you have a dense residential area and no police coverage then fires and riots can break out instantly so place them fire stations carefully too. The sims will moan about anything from trash collections to taxes,police oppression if your police budget is too high to a lawless city if too low. For every positive effect their will be a flipside too, Too many high tech jobs and complaints of not enough farms, Too much money invested in roads to them falling apart. Until you play a game like this and experience it for yourself you will not understand as there are so many variables you couldn't even imagine, Who would of thought a simple park for your sims may prevent a riot!
You must always keep your sims happy if possible and keep a close eye on structures such as your water piping and the ages of certain buildings such as power plants that lose capacity with age and blow up and your water pumping stations as these are vital to your cities basic needs.
The graphics on the game are nothing major from a game released around 2000 but the strange thing about it is the level of addiction the game gives although at time it can be tedious. For a city building sim or fans of games like theme park ect this maybe of some interest to you guys but don't expect a masterpiece either.
Read the complete review |
 |
The Sims 3: Late Night (PC)
by yasmania
The Sims 3 'Late Night' expansion pack is a fabulous game; especially for those who are perhaps getting bored with the ordinary Sims expansion packs and extras.
'Late Night' offers players the chance to create celebrities, musicians, actors, directors and independent rock stars. What i particularly enjoyed about the game was ... seeing your sims start off as ordinary then journey to fame and riches. Sims are able to 'gig' and go nightclubbing as well as go for a quick drink and game down the 'dive bar' pubs.
The town of 'Bridgeport' which is the main town of this expansion pack is buzzing with things to do and places to see and even live. With this expansion pack you can now live in apartments and high-rise buildings. This is fun and different plus once to become a 'celebrity' and claim enough money through various celebrity duties, you can move into the more swanky houses. These houses are very different to the ones you are used to in Riverside and Twinbrook.
With the addition of new furniture and objects there is the incentive of new stylish clothes. With your sims now able to be celebrities in their own towns, the game allows you to be as eccentric and wacky with their appearance - more than usual anyway!
The new clothes are great and there are a lot more to choose from.
The only disadvantage i will mention is that i have found the game itself on my laptop slow. Make sure you have enough memory and up-to-date software as this game takes up memory and requires internet access throughout the gameplay.
Otherwise, this is a great expansion pack that is a bit more complex than the others so if you are buying for a young child then be prepared as this game is quite complicated. But it does not override the ability or affect the other Sims 3 games you may have installed.
A great game, i am still not bored of it and don't think i ever will be! I always recommend to friends and family
Read the complete review |
 |
Rise Of Nations (PC)
by fonderos
Rise of Nations really took the RTS to the next level. Obviously it is similar to Age of Empires and other RTS games, but i believe changed them for the better. RON gives players the opportunity to rise up through time, creating the special units of a possible 18 civilisations to choose from. There are also, unlike in any other RTS game ... 6 resources which help you build up your empire. Food, metal, timber, oil, wealth and knowledge. Knowledge allows you to build up technologies enabling you to expand your empire in the future ages. This is a definite must play if you're an RTS fan, and you can probably pick it up quite cheaply nowadays. The large amount of civilisations have something for everyone, with each one have their own special units and powers. Even if you've never played an RTS game this would be the perfect one to start with as in my opinion it is the most ambitious and the one you can get the most joy out of playing. From the campaigns of Alexander the Great and the second world war to the brilliant gameplay RON really has it's tactical side down to a tee. The game is built on the premise that a good offence and defence is needed, which means without a good economy you won't do well. I think that is what is missing from a variety of the RTS games out now in that they are too focused on offence and tactically they don't stand up to Rise of Nations.
Read the complete review |
